This week on the Arts Hour, Lauren talks with Max Hipp, a teacher, writer, and musician from Oxford, Mississippi. Hipp’s debut collection of short stories, titled WHAT DOESN’T KILL YOU OPENS YOUR HEART, was published this year. The characters in this collection howl with loneliness. They’ve reached the ends of their coping mechanisms and bank accounts and are making terrible life choices and trying to recover in the wake of them. As a reader, it’s impossible to look away. Listen as they discuss the book and Max Hipp’s creative process as both a writer and musician in Oxford.

The episode airs on MPB Think Radio this Sunday at 5 p.m. CT. You can also listen on your favorite podcasting app.